Pleasurable or Not?

Today’s society has innumerable issues and debatable topics that have been around for centuries that probably will never be resolved until Christ comes again at the end of time, but in the meantime, philosophers like Plato and More have attempted to resolve the controversial problems. Utopia by Thomas More focuses mainly on how society is run. He speaks on many issues including “stupid pleasures” that people dwell much of their time doing. He writes to demonstrate to society that they are actually harming themselves, but there is a reasonable explanation for how they are hindering society.

The Utopians are people who enjoy many pleasures within their country. However, they disagree with many practices that their surrounding countries label as pleasurable. They consider “gambling – a / form of idiocy that they’ve heard about but never practiced – / but also hunting and hawking” (75). It must be taken into consideration that More’s composition is satirical. Once one realizes that, they can then begin to interpret what he is actually saying about society as a whole. More speaks about gambling as being idiotic. Wasting away one’s resources is not beneficial to the gambler, rather it makes him a fool because he is being tricked out of his money or possessions. Furthermore, hunting viewed in a satirical sense can represent the government and how it robs and attacks the lower economic levels of its country. The kings of More’s time were about gaining wealth for their own good and not for the betterment of the country. This scenario is still applicable today in at least two ways. The government unfairly taxing and setting up programs that benefit the rich or the ones who do not work and also to bullies who torment their peers. The government is not so different from a bully who jests at others for their differences. More questions why anyone would enjoy personal gain as pleasurable at the expense of the harm to others. He says “wouldn’t pity be a more appro- / priate reaction to the sight of a weak, timid, harmless little / creature like a hare being devoured by something so much / stronger and fiercer” (76)? He suggests that sadness and mercy should be the reaction of superior power, not satisfaction.

More continues to elaborate on his theory by stating, “A hunter kills / and mutilates poor little creatures purely for his own amusement” (76). That thought is truly awful, but every day we witness hunters ruthlessly manipulating the bodies that they prey upon. Now they aren’t physical animals, they are everyday people. Today, the popular prey of many organizations are Christians and homeless people. The powers in charge in the last few decades have especially been relentless towards Christians. Various laws have been passed that prevent or hinder the religious and moral actions of believers. As a result, Christians are turning away from their beliefs to avoid being harmed. Harmed, by the very government whose job is to protect them and serve the best interest of the people and not themselves. The homeless are also being neglected, as a result, they are attacked by the media for being troublesome because they commit crimes in an effort persevere.

On the contrary, the Utopians do not have these type issues because they established their country in such a way that all people are provided with the necessities of life. More says, “In Utopia they have a six-hour working day…” (56). Everyone works every day supplying enough resources for the needs of everyone because no one is unemployed. And because no one is unemployed, no one is homeless. More writes in regards to religious views that, “many Utopians refuse to accept Christianity, but / even they make no attempt to discourage other people from / adopting it or to attack those who do” (99-100). No one is allowed to publicly discuss religious ideas and beliefs unless they are in a private setting. This prevents the government from discriminating against any person’s religious affiliations, and it prevents religious quarrels that would disrupt peace in the area and in some cases across the country.     

If society would consider some of these issues and evaluate how they are being dealt with by the organizations in charge, then better solutions might be implemented. However, until an effort is put in place to help society nothing will be accomplished to relieve the diseases and stupid pleasures that are plaguing society as a whole. More does not suggest that the Utopian’s way of dealing with these issues is the only possible answer, but he is calling for action and reformation for countries who are dealing with issues such as unemployment, homelessness, and laziness. He is saying that there are issues causing severe problems that are causing friction in today’s societies around the world.